Shoestring Living: Be grateful every day

Friday

Dec 30, 2011 at 12:01 AMDec 30, 2011 at 6:55 AM

I’m a changed woman these days, and working hard to make sure that my kids don’t ever experience anything but gratitude for the blessings they have and receive. Here’s how to get a handle on your own gratitude.

Molly Logan Anderson

Back in the land where we didn’t have kids that participated in unimaginably expensive sports or wished for gifts like iPod Touches, my husband and I actually purchased gifts for each other. I am a good gift-buyer. I mean, I’m a strive-for-perfection-can’t-handle-it-if-I-miss-the-mark gift buyer. That doesn’t mean that I don’t think others are good gift-buyers or that I expect them to put the same amount of thought that I do into the process, it just means that all those years ago, I was tough to buy for.

Well, I’m a changed woman these days, and working hard to make sure that my kids don’t ever experience anything but gratitude for the blessings they have and receive. Here’s how to get a handle on your own gratitude.

Figure yourself out already

I plot and plunder each year, planning the perfect holiday or birthdays for those I love. This is me. This is something I like to do. It may not be so thrilling for others, and that’s OK. I’m not sure if it’s age, or the ability to listen to my “wise self” these days, but I’m grateful that I now know, no matter what, it really is the thought that counts.

Love what you’ve got

Make it your job to love and be grateful for every blessing that comes into your life during this new year. Focusing on what you already have, meaningful connections with others and the here and now, will leave you less likely to see anything but the wonder of what’s right in front of you. When you’re appreciating a sunrise after a sleepless night, how can you focus on being tired? Become aware of the good in your life and celebrate it, no matter how small it seems.

Journal it

One of the best ways to make gratitude part of your daily life is to write it down. I strive to do this on my family blog and I encourage you to join me by taking a few moments each evening to jot down five to 10 things for which you’re grateful. Maybe it’s the way a woman helped you find an out-of-stock item you needed at the store, maybe it was arriving somewhere on time despite the odds, maybe it’s the color of your child’s eyes. Once you put this gratitude-seeking behavior into practice, you’re sure to look at the world around you in a whole new way.

Molly Logan Anderson is a freelance writer who lives in the western suburbs of Chicago with her husband, Mike, three kids and two labs. Join Molly on her family’s journey of living a frugal life and making financial freedom their reality in her columns or visit her website at www.mollylogananderson.com or on her blog at www.butterfliesandmudpies.blogspot.com.